In the summer of 2011, during the Triple B wild horse gather, a little bay foal was gathered and didn’t have a mother to care for her. At only three months old, she needed a caregiver to survive. Jeanne Nations, a wild horse lover, photographer and a partner with the BLM’s Ely District, stepped up to care for the orphaned foal. Little did the foal, named Anna, know what was in store for her life...

Anna was in Jeanne’s care for a year, and as she got older, the wild stallions that lived on the other side of Jeanne’s fence, started to take notice of her. In fact, on one particular day, they jumped the fence and went after her to join their band. Quickly jumping on their four-wheelers, Jeanne and her husband were able to chase off the suitors, but knew they had a challenge on their hands.

Jeanne’s friend Mary Peres came from New York to visit, and on one trip, Jeanne jokingly mentioned that Mary should adopt Anna, since Jeanne was having trouble with the neighboring wild stallions pursuing Anna.

“She’s gorgeous. . . one of the prettiest movers I’d seen,” said Mary, and took Jeanne up on her offer to adopt Anna.

Anna was boarded into a nicely air-conditioned trailer and traveled three days across the country to her new home at Seven Meadows Farm in Goshen, New York, 50 miles outside New York City. The farm offers boarding, lessons and training for all ages and experience levels. As she pranced out of her trailer into her new surroundings, Anna immediately became the princess of the barn, as the kids who ride at Seven Meadows heaped love all over her. She joined Sabio, Mary’s other mustang, and quickly fit right in.

“I have had thoroughbreds, quarter horses, warmbloods and minis, and I find the mustangs to be the most intelligent of all the horses,” said Mary. “They’re the most sure-footed with perfect hooves—the farrier only needs to trim them twice a year.”

Like Jeanne, Mary has become a real champion for the wild horses.

“I try to stress to people that they’re not really ‘wild’—they just need some patience and time,” said Mary.

To prove how great the mustangs are, and to encourage people to adopt them, she took Sabio to the Hampton Classic, one of the largest outdoor horse shows in the country.